For the first time in its 17-year history, visitors to the 'Fantasy of Lights' Show in Vasona Lake County Park in Los Gatos will need pre-paid tickets bought in advance, or face being turned away at the gate. Kris Sanchez reports. (Published Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2015)

For the first time in its 17-year history, visitors to the 'Fantasy of Lights' Show in Vasona Lake County Park in Los Gatos will need pre-paid tickets bought in advance, or face being turned away at the gate.

That's because the annual 1.5-mile extravaganza of lights and displays usually draws such huge crowds that cars ended up clogging the surface streets, and kids whined during the long wait, annual goers say.

Buying tickets in advance, and choosing a specific date and time, will hopefully ease up that congestion, Santa Clara County Parks organizers hope.

Cars drive through the popular park so that passengers can see animated larger-than-life displays, hear holiday music piped through the car radio and witness an erupting volcano in the Dinosaur Den, Santa Shooting Hoops, a pen of Playful Penguins, blazing Pirate Ship cannons, Tunnels of Lights, and winking, Twinkling Trees.

In the past, visitors could buy tickets upon arrival. But over the years, the event has drawn hundreds of cars at a time, sometimes waiting for more than an hour on surface streets to get in. The event runs from Dec. 6 to Dec. 31 from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.

For more information on how to buy the tickets - $20 per car - click here. Tickets can also be bought at the Parks Administration Office at 298 Garden Hill Drive, Los Gatos, or by calling 408-355-2201.